In hockey and in life, Dan Hamhuis has always tried to lead by example. The Vancouver Canucks’ defenceman wants to win a championship as much as anyone, but he also knows that there is so much more to the game he loves. Hockey has helped provide Hamhuis with a wonderful life and he is anxious […]

His first shift in the National Hockey League lasted 12 seconds, he didn’t touch anything but the ice and he was cheered by fans at Rogers Arena both when he left the bench and when he returned to it a few ticks later.

LOS ANGELES — So this is what it was like to be the last of the dinosaurs — assuming the giant reptiles thought rationally and deductively and spoke from the heart with a French accent. Alex Burrows figures he will soon be extinct as far as the Vancouver Canucks go.

Like nearly everyone else, Jim Benning was wondering if it could last. The Canucks’ GM suspected that at some point rookie defenceman Ben Hutton might hit a wall, lose some confidence and begin to struggle with his game.

THE DEBRIEF Two minutes after Daniel Sedin’s bank shot tied it, the Canucks surrendered the winning goal with 7:05 remaining when Thomas Hickey’s point shot bounced through traffic and into the Vancouver net. The bad bounce was indicative of the Canucks’ night, as Vancouver scored two own goals — shots by Islanders Travis Hamonic and Anders Lee, pictured, that went in off Dan Hamhuis and Ben Hutton. Linden Vey scored on a power play for the Canucks.

Jim Benning signed Ryan Miller because he felt he owed his veteran team an experienced, top-flight goaltender, and Miller came to Vancouver on the general manager’s promise the Canucks would do what they could to win soon.

The Canucks are coming off a pair of putrid performances, 5-2 home losses against the Minnesota Wild (Monday) and Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday) and at 0-4-1 are on their longest losing streak at Rogers Arena in seven years.

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